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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26935153">It's Got to Be...</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cactaceae28/pseuds/Cactaceae28'>Cactaceae28</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adora (She-Ra) is a Dork, Birthday Fluff, Catra loves her anyway, F/F, Fluff, Friendship, No Plot/Plotless, Post-Canon, Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:16:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,456</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26935153</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cactaceae28/pseuds/Cactaceae28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It is Catra's birthday, and Adora scrambles to find out what to do.</p><p>Fortunately, she has plenty of friends on her side.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra &amp; Scorpia (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>109</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It's Got to Be...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naremuse/gifts">Naremuse</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>All things considered, it was understandable that the date slipped from Adora's mind. There had been so much to do in the wake of Horde Prime's defeat, some days she almost found herself wishing for the simplicity of being a fighter or those weeks when they had still been out in space, when she only had to worry about the present.</p><p>Rebuilding was harder. Not only the cities and forests; trust had been broken all around and even knowing about the mind-controlling devices, people who had been hurt often needed many reassurances to begin letting go of their reluctance to accept the princesses back.</p><p>Adora had, therefore, spent months in a state of permanent motion, helping reconstruction efforts as She-ra, visiting locals, overseeing the re-integration of the previous Horde soldiers and clones. Thus, it wasn't until things started falling into place that she was able to direct her mental energy somewhere else.</p><p>She had been with Bow and Glimmer, all three sprawled on the bed after what should be the last large diplomatic trip before they left for other planets, when a stray comment made her realize: "tomorrow is Catra's birthday!"</p><p>"Is it?" Bow asked, shuffling to look at her.</p><p>“Oh no,” Adora said, sitting up abruptly, “how could I forget?”</p><p>“Adora, calm down.”</p><p>“Calm down? How can I calm down?” She exclaimed, “this is a disaster.”</p><p>“It’s not so bad,” Glimmer said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “we’ve all been so busy. I’m sure she’ll understand.”</p><p>“No, you don’t get it… this is the first birthday we would have been able to celebrate together. I wanted to make something special, now that we are not soldiers or... enemies. Oh no.”</p><p>“Adora…”</p><p>“I still have time, right? I still can do something!” Adora jumped to her feet, starting to pace, “but what? What should I do? I mean… people get gifts, right? You gave me that brooch with She-ra’s wing for my birthday, but that would take too long!”</p><p>“Okay, so what does she like?” Bow asked.</p><p>Adora stopped short, and a troubled expression crossed her face. “I… I’m not sure. It should be something special, right? But we could never keep many things outside of regulation on the Horde… and Shadow Weaver didn’t allow things like fiction either… I… I don’t know.”</p><p>“It’s okay, we can figure this out,” Bow said.</p><p>“I mean, it’s not like we have the ultimate book on Catra wrangling, do we?” Glimmer muttered at the same time.</p><p>“Netossa! She had those notes on all of us, maybe she can help! Thanks guys!”</p><p>Adora ran out of the room with that, leaving two bewildered and slightly concerned friends behind. They looked at each other in silence, and then Bow stood up himself.</p><p>“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”</p><p>“Yes, I think so.”</p><p>-----</p><p>“I’m sorry Adora, but I only had a file for weaknesses and only during the Horde’s invasion.” Netossa said apologetically. “I mean… it’s not like I’m <em>friends</em> with Catra or anything. I admit she’s better that I gave her credit for, but, um...”</p><p>"Stop talking dear," Spinerella chided Netossa, coming out of the garden out back.</p><p>She turned to Adora with an encouraging smile, "Don't worry so much. I’m sure Catra isn’t expecting anything big, what with all that has happened. Just let her know that you care, it will be enough.”</p><p>“Probably,” Netossa said with a false cough. “Trust me, forgetting an anniversary? Never a good idea.”</p><p>“Dear, what happened wasn’t your fault. Horde Prime would have gotten to one of us eventually.”</p><p>“Spinny…”</p><p>Seeing their loaded looks, Adora shuffled back slowly. “I’m, uh, going to leave… thanks, I guess,” she said, fleeing the scene.</p><p>“You really could have been nicer, you know,” Spinerella said afterwards.</p><p>“I only told the truth. What should I have done instead?”</p><p>-----</p><p>“Adora! Hey, how are things?” Frosta shouted from the gardens, hurrying to greet Adora as she moved past, lost in her own thoughts.</p><p>“Frosta? What are you doing here?”</p><p>“I came to see Glimmer. So? What’s up?”</p><p>Adora repeated the whole story and when she was done, Frosta rubbed at her chin, thinking.</p><p>“Easy,” Frosta shrugged at last.</p><p>She hopped away, rubbed her hands together, and thrust them out. Magic gathered around her closed fists and when the gale subsided, there was a sparkling, flawless rendition of Horde Prime’s ship being destroyed by meter-tall figures of Frosta, Catra and She-ra, detailed down to the ponytail.</p><p>"Done. I'll give her that whenever I see her. Do you want me to make something to give her from you?"</p><p>Adora gritted her teeth in frustration. It looked beautiful, but she just felt that, “no, no, this is all wrong!”</p><p>After a moment, she realized what she was doing and shook her head, “I’m sorry Frosta, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I just… this isn’t working. I need to go.”</p><p>Frosta watched her leave with a troubled expression. The eyes of the statuettes seemed suddenly to judge her and she stomped her foot, melting it with a frustrated wave of her hand. "Fine!" She shouted at the empty air, "Okay, I get it!"</p><p>-----</p><p>Salineas was looking much better these days. Mermista had been overseeing the repairs with zeal, reinforcing structures while her subjects worked to make the work go faster.</p><p>That day she seemed to have finished already and Adora was directed to a small sunroom when she found her with Seahawk.</p><p>“On my last birthday, I was far from home,” Seahawk reminisced after she had explained, putting a foot on the chair and talking with the cadence of a particularly excitable storyteller. "It was a long voyage that I, alas, undertook with no one by my side, so perilous was the journey, so tenuous its potential reward. Still, my heart was aflame and my spirit remained strong, so strong in fact that a wondrous, inexplicable thing happened—”</p><p>“Let me cut you short there. You ended up setting your ship on fire,” Mermista deadpanned.</p><p>“I mean, <em>technically</em>—”</p><p>“He set his ship on fire,” she repeated for Adora’s sake.</p><p>"You were alone? Then, what would you have wanted? Is there anything that could have made that day better?"</p><p>"Of course, I would have loved if my beautiful Mermista had seen fit to answer my many letters. Ah, how it would have lifted my spirit to know that I was in her thoughts just as she plagued my heart…"</p><p>"I should have sent a storm to capsize you into an abandoned island."</p><p>"Ah, you words are harsh but I know what lies behind your lovely eyes—"</p><p>At least, Adora would think later, Mermista and Seahawk tried. There might even have been some good advice buried among the flowery prose and pointed barbs. She just couldn't see it. She thanked them regardless and left.</p><p>"You know, that birthday alone really wasn't much fun," Seahawk said after a moment. Mermista hummed her agreement.</p><p>-----</p><p>"Entrapta? Are you there?" Adora said, looking past the open hatch at Darla's controls.</p><p>"In here!"</p><p>Adora came in, careful to step away from the mess of cables, tools and random crystals strewn on the floor.</p><p>“Oh, hello Adora. I found a glitch in Darla’s systems, well, it’s not really a glitch, but I realized I could make the transition to warp easier, it just needs me to tweak the inertial dampeners juuust slightly. I need to get this done and tested, as soon as possible, because there’s <em>so much</em> Darla and I have planned before we leave!”</p><p>“I… uh… is that… necessary?”</p><p>“If they fail, we’d become paste when we are finally allowed to take this back to space and hit a high enough acceleration.”</p><p>Adora wondered whether she should pursue that further, but apart from her administrator access, there was nothing she could contribute to Entrapta’s work, which often went right over her head. She trusted her fellow princess, regardless, so she allowed herself to put it all aside.</p><p>“Did you do anything for your birthdays?” She asked, after watching Entrapta work for a little while, “you know, after… after we left?”</p><p>Entrapta scratched her cheek, twisting knobs on a panel to their left before returning to tightening a loose bolt. "I don't know, I don't remember anything like that happening before I was sent to Beast Island. Is it important?"</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>Entrapta's ponytails twisted together fretfully, and she left her screwdriver on the floor.</p><p>"I have never… I think maybe my cook made something special back in Dryl? But Catra never cared about that sort of thing. Have you tried asking Scorpia?"</p><p>"I guess I will. Thanks Entrapta."</p><p>"No problem," the purple-haired girl said from where she was hanging upside-down, soldering the edge of the viewscreen. Adora sighed and left her to it. Half an hour later, Entrapta looked up from her work, casting a look at the hatch.</p><p>"Note to self. Push back maintenance of the secondary relays per protocol 226-alpha."</p><p>-----</p><p>Adora shuffled into Plumeria with resignation, ignoring Swiftwing’s chirpy attempts at lifting her spirits. This was her last shot and she hadn’t wanted to reach this point, but she was starting to feel desperate.</p><p>“Hi, Adora,” Scorpia said, putting the basket down on a fallen tree trunk to wave at her. “What’s up?”</p><p>"I, um… I have something to ask you."</p><p>"Of course, shoot."</p><p>Adora hesitated, twisting her ponytail with a hand, and slowly repeated herself for the last time, ending with "so I was wondering if, you know… you have something planned. Which, it's fine if you don't."</p><p>"Oh!" Scorpia exclaimed and her puzzled frown cleared up, "you thought maybe I didn't know? Thank you so much Adora but don't you worry, I totally got this! Look, I'll show you, I could use your opinion actually."</p><p>She bounced off to one of the cabinets, in as much as someone as tall as her could bounce and started rummaging through one. Adora felt her battle-honed senses react, and realized with a sudden certainty that she didn't want to see whatever it was.</p><p>Scorpia chattered on, unaware of her companion's feelings. "It took so much work to find out the date, I had to break into the Horde's personnel files, so I understand why you were worried, though. Still, no way was I going to let my bestest buddy down!"</p><p>She turned around, holding something aloft in her claws and passed it delicately to Adora's hands.</p><p>Adora wanted to cry.</p><p>It was a She-ra doll. A hand-crafted, absurdly adorable little doll with a little cape, long, fine, unfairly soft hair and a little sword made of toothpicks.</p><p>"Perfuma made the sword, and the hair and eyes. I wanted to do it all myself of course but," she lifted her claws ruefully, "I'm not good with the small delicate parts. Still, do you think Catra will like this? After, you know, after she swears that it's ridiculous and useless and that she hates it?"</p><p>"Y-yeah…" Adora said with a lump in her throat. "She's going to rant at you for hours."</p><p>"Yes! Ooh, thank you <em>so</em> much Adora, I'm so relieved, phew."</p><p>Adora nodded. She should stay and continue asking for their advice, but she was feeling too dejected for it. This whole thing had been a disaster, and she just had to accept that, so she babbled a farewell and turned around, taking care not to run away.  Perfuma approached Scorpia, who was watching Adora go with a troubled frown, and laid her hand against her shoulder.</p><p>“She sounded strange, didn’t she?” Scorpia asked. “What do you think that was about?”</p><p>“I don’t know, but I have an idea…”</p><p>-----</p><p>The next morning dawned bright and clear, and Adora faced it with grim resolution. She hadn't found an acceptable answer, but she was determined to face this problem, no matter what happened.</p><p>There was nothing to it, but honesty.</p><p>She let her instincts guide her actions, following, in the end, the familiar thought process of their childhood. With that, she searched the castle until she found the person occupying her thoughts.</p><p>“Hey, Adora.”</p><p>“Hey, Catra. Come with me?” She asked.</p><p>Catra lifted both eyebrows, but agreed easily, abandoning her snack on the table and nimbly hopping down. Adora took her hand and guided her outside the castle. Adora guided them to the tower presiding over Bright Moon, and didn’t let go of Catra’s hand until they were under the glow of the Moonstone.</p><p>“Am I even allowed to be up here?” Catra asked, “I almost destroyed this one once.” </p><p>“Of course you can!” Adora said hotly and Catra smirked.</p><p>“So this is the moonstone, huh?” Catra said, looking at it with interest. She lifted a hand and reached for one of the ribbons of magical residue gathering under it, smirking as the light curled around her fingers. “Back then, I thought we would never be able to stand together again like this, you and I. Things have really changed, huh.”</p><p>“Not everything has,” Adora said, waving at the forest in the distance, “This isn’t the tallest structure in Bright Moon but… we can still do this. Get away from everyone and look at what is outside. Like we used to, when we were little. Before everything.”</p><p>Catra looked at her over her shoulder and the gentle light of the runestone cast a softness on her features that was usually missing from her expression. She turned and stepped towards the blonde, punching her lightly on the shoulder, “Come on, why the sudden depression? It isn’t like you.”</p><p>“Catra… I’m sorry I didn’t go back for you when I first became She-ra. I’m not sure I’ve ever told you that.”</p><p>“That was ages ago. As I said, things have changed.” Catra said uncomfortably, sitting on the edge of the tower with practiced ease.</p><p>“Yes, some things have,” Adora agreed this time, sitting down next to her and interlacing their fingers together. She took a deep breath and added, “and things are going to get better from now on, I’m sure of it. Still, I don’t know how to do a lot of… this. Living outside the Horde, living without war. I wanted to do something special for today, but in the end I just couldn’t think of anything… So at least, I wanted to show you that things can be brighter now. Happy birthday, Catra.”</p><p>Catra tilted her head, considering her, and snorted. “So this is why you are acting so weird? My birthday? Adora, I don’t need anything, it’s just a day. You know that.”</p><p>Adora sighed, “I know, I know. It’s just… we never <em>could</em> do anything, before. I couldn’t give you anything, I couldn’t cook, we couldn’t even skip for the day. At most I could let you win during training.”</p><p>“Ha, in your dreams, blockhead.”</p><p>“But now…”</p><p>“Now we can do those things any time we want,” Catra shrugged. “There’s no need to justify ourselves to anybody, no…” her voice wavered, “no Shadow Weaver, no Fright Zone. Just us. Trust me, it is enough.”</p><p>“I still feel bad about forgetting,” Adora said, “but one day, I’ll throw you the perfect birthday party! So until then, you are stuck with me.”</p><p>“If that will make you happy,” Catra grumbled good-naturedly.</p><p>“Yes. It will,” Adora said and Catra smiled.</p><p>-----</p><p>They willed the morning away like that, enjoying the breeze and the freedom of not having duties or tasks ahead, letting the hours pass unremarked in lazy contentment. Eventually, hunger brought them back down to the castle and they approached it in easy, companionable silence. </p><p>Their tranquility was broken by one of the guards, who noticed them and hurried to meet them with a respectful bow in Adora's direction.</p><p>“Princess,” the guard said, “your presence is urgently requested in the war room. Both of you.”</p><p>They traded a look and walked quickly through the corridors, wondering if something had happened. They reached the room to find the door half-open, and nearly complete darkness inside. The two girls looked at each other; Catra’s ear twitched and she frowned.</p><p>“Do you hear… someone whispering?”</p><p>Melog meowed and pushed the door open without hesitation, slipping inside. They looked at each other and entered the darkened war room together. Adora curled her fingers to call up her sword in case she had to transform quickly. Abruptly, the lights turned on and the blinds went up again to reveal a large group inside.</p><p>“Happy birthday, Catra!” Several voices shouted in unison. Catra took a step back with a small shout.</p><p>It seemed like all of the players of the former Rebellion had gathered in the war room, which had been decorated with streamers made of vines and little ice figurines of all of them that shone with the light of the sun.</p><p>“Surprise!” Bow exclaimed, throwing an arm over Catra’s shoulders.</p><p>“What on Etheria is this?” Catra’s voice cracked at the end of her question and she wasted no time in slipping out of Bow’s hold and side-stepping closer to Adora.</p><p>“Well, Adora reminded all of us that it was your first birthday as a member of the Best Friends Squad!” Glitter said, teleporting to grip Catra’s arm and taking her in a burst of excitement to the table, which had been laden with a big, purple cake full of candles and several other candies. “Of course we had to celebrate!”</p><p>“I am also excited to partake in this tradition!” Wordak exclaimed happily, lifting his arms up into fists but wisely refraining from trying to touch the birthday girl. “I made this to express my feelings of friendship for Catra, even though I haven’t known her for a full year yet!” he added, pointing to a plate full of charred blocks of something that might have been cookies at one point.</p><p>Melog mewed their agreement, jumping up to one of the chairs and sniffing at the conceptions. They sneezed softly and jumped down, disappearing under the table.</p><p>“Seriously, this is so stupid,” Catra huffed, but there was a smile lurking behind her words as she ran a hand along the tablecloth, taking care to keep her nails away from the fine material.</p><p>"Guys… this is perfect," Adora whispered, looking at the decorations and feeling tears come to her eyes.</p><p>The smiles around them grew brighter and a new energy swept over the group, who started to chat loudly over each other. Catra’s shoulders tensed at the cacophony, until Mermista noticed and whistled loudly, silencing the racket.</p><p>"Come on, blow the candles already, I want cake," the princess grumbled, looking away in embarrassment when everybody turned to look at her.</p><p>"Oh, I know this one! You have to make a wish!" Entrapta said, wiping a small notebook from a back pocket. "Too bad you can't say what it is, but I'm sure there's some kind of experiment we could make!"</p><p>Catra rolled her eyes, directing an exasperated but fond look back at Adora, who chuckled. She hesitated a moment longer, looked around, and straightened away from the table.</p><p>"Scorpia? This is your first birthday party outside the Fright Zone too. Do you want to help?" She asked with deliberate intent. Adora recognized it for what it was: one of the many little gestures Catra had started to do in order to try to be a better friend to Scorpia and Entrapta.</p><p>"Do I? Wow, thank you Catra!"</p><p>"Adora?"</p><p>"Yeah, uh, yeah… If that is what you want."</p><p>Between the three of them, the candles were quickly taken care of to the sound of loud cheering and Entrapta's fast-paced scribbling.</p><p>After a few hours of eating, reminiscing and drafting grandiose plans for future birthdays –Darla’s in particular was a matter of hot debate—, the party started to wind down. Netossa and Spinerella said their goodbyes, and everyone else slowly left for their rooms in the castle or laid down where they had fallen in the cushions after the sugar high had worn off.</p><p>When they were alone, Adora put the glass she had been carrying on the table and cast around a last, satisfied look. Even with the dim lights, the room still seemed to glow with the happiness of its previous occupants in a way that had seemed unthinkable a year ago.</p><p>“Adora?” Catra said, approaching her on nearly silent steps.</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“I have something for you too.”</p><p>“But, it’s your birthday, you don’t need—”</p><p>Before she could finish, Catra slid her arm around Adora’s waist, pulling her close and pressing their lips together for a small, sweet moment. Adora felt the tension slip from her shoulders at last and sighed contentedly. She hugged Catra back, unwilling to let go. For a moment they stood like that, simply resting their foreheads together and ignoring the world.</p><p>“Thanks, Adora.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy (belated) birthday, Naremuse!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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